The Cold Air Outbreak of December 1983

Introduction

A series of bitter cold, arctic air masses began penetrating the midsection of the United States on December 15, 1983, causing record low temperatures and extreme wind chills over much of the eastern two-thirds of the nation through the remainder of the month. The abnormally cold temperatures were responsible for at least 151 deaths throughout the country, including 4 deaths in Oklahoma. Although the northern states encountered colder temperatures for a longer period, most of the deaths were concentrated in the southern states where people were unprepared for such a long period of freezing temperatures. Many of the victims were elderly people who died of hypothermia in their unheated homes.

A total of 4 deaths occurred in Oklahoma during this frigid period. During the morning of December 19th, a man who was living in a truck in Tulsa, OK was found frozen to death. During the morning of December 22nd, a 73-year-old woman died of exposure when she apparently left the doors to her home open in Muskogee, OK while a 63-year-old man slipped outside his home and died of exposure in Oklahoma City, OK. On the morning of December 25th, a man was found dead in his yard from hypothermia in Tulsa.

December 15-16, 1983 Winter Storm

As the first wave of cold air pushed southward, a winter storm dumped up to 10 inches of heavy snow in the south-central states on the evening of December 15th and into the morning of the December 16th. The snow fell in an east-west band extending along the Red River Valley, over extreme southern Oklahoma, much of northern Texas, southern Arkansas, northern Louisiana, and northern Mississippi. The snow greatly disrupted area transportation since snowfalls of any significant accumulation are rarely received in this region.

Some of the highest snowfall totals in southern Oklahoma from this winter storm included Hollis, Sulphur, Marlow, Duncan and Snyder with 1 inch, Chattanooga and Comanche with 2 inches, Ardmore with 3.5 inches, Frederick with 4 inches, McGee Creek Dam with 4.5 inches, Madill with 5 inches, Durant with 5.5 inches, and Marietta with 8 inches. In western north Texas Lake Kemp reported 3 inches, Seymour had 4.5 inches, Wichita Falls recorded 5.6 inches, and Archer City totaled 7 inches.

Daily Precipitation and Temperature Records for Oklahoma City and Wichita Falls for December 15-31, 1983

Daily temperature and precipitation data for Oklahoma City, OK ande Wichita Falls, TX are available from December 15-31, 1983 in the following table. December 1983 ranks as the coldest December for both Oklahoma City (25.8 °F average temperature) and Wichita Falls (30.5 °F average temperature).